Talking about WWII in class, we come to know that Hitler and the Nazi Germans pose as the villain of the war. With ideals that many feel strongly against, many people wondered how Hitler was able to gain such a strong base of support. Through the use of PROPAGANDA, a very important form of advertisement and persuasion, Hitler was able to persuade an entire nation to join his Nazi Party.
As we talked about in class, Hitler felt very strongly against the Treaty of Versailles. He feel that his nation was thrown under the bus and faced harsh punishment for the Great War (WWI). In order for Hitler to convince his country to fight back against that treaty, he used skillful techniques to "control" the minds of the people through the use of language. He himself didn't do all the work. That is where his Minister of Propaganda, Josef Goebbels comes in.
Goebbels set up and used catchy slogans, patriotic songs, and even started political military rallies to gain support for Hitler's regime. Mainly hitting the patriotic part in most of the German people, Hitler and Goebbels were able to persuade the public to join him in fighting back against the rest of the world.
Besides hiring Goebbels, a major component to Hitler's rise to power was his control over the media. Using the radio and broadcasting live, Hitler was able to get on a personal level with all his people and win them over through the use of skillful speeches and colorful and patriotic language. Other sources of the media which Hitler controlled included magazines, newspapers, and posters posted all over the country.
In all, Hitler's rise to power can be noticed and seen as one of the most successful political campaigns in history and can be seen in the strength of the German military who had a "chip' on their back from the last war. Through powerful words, and public appearance, Hitler was able to change the tradition and culture of the German people to conduct a Nazi regime to lead them into War.
Great content! I like how you explained in detail how so many came to support Hitler. One thing that stood out to me was the connection between Nazi propaganda and that of the United States during the first World War because Hitler used films to indoctrinate people with fascist beliefs, and the United States used films to gain support for the war effort. I think it is interesting to see how films were such a powerful influence on people back then. I wonder if films were more influential back then than now due to the wonder it must have instilled in people, making them more receptive to its intended message.
ReplyDeleteSource on Nazi propaganda: https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005202
I like how you walked the reader through an insightful step-by-step process of how Hitler developed to become one of the most powerful and public world dictators in all of history through the manipulation of the public media. Your analysis has allowed me to better understand the connection between the censoring of the German media and the rise of a bellicose and totalitarian German state. Although the propaganda and partisan press of this day is critical in understanding the attitudes of the Nazis in this era, it is important to note how Hitler went from being a corporal in World War I to the evil autocrat in the 1930s. A beneficial add-on to your essay could be how his military presence and ideology helped him to destroy the Weimar Republic to become der Führer in crushing all opposition. For additional information, I recommend checking out the following source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler/Rise-to-power
ReplyDeleteI see a really interesting parallel between the American and German use of propaganda. I wrote a blog about the different types of American propaganda that served distinct purposes and it seems as though Hitler's was much more persuading and controlling. Did Hitler and his administration usurp control of the entire media in Germany? How did this strict control affect how the German people thought about the Allies (since they were propaganda which implies exaggeration of the situation)?
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